A former employee has accused Bank of America of quietly taking millions in unpaid labor from its remote workforce. The alleged culprit? The time it takes to start a computer.
In a federal class action filed in North Carolina, former Business Analyst Tava Martin claims that hundreds of hourly workers were required to spend up to 30 minutes each day booting up complex systems before their paid shifts began. Those minutes, she says, were never counted or compensated.
Martin describes mornings that began long before the clock started. Employees had to power on company computers, wait for Windows to load, request a security token from their phones, log into a virtual private network, and open a maze of internal apps before they were “call ready.” According to the suit, Bank of America enforced a strict policy that required staff to be available for customer calls the instant their shift began.
Work before work
The filing paints a picture of hundreds of remote analysts spending up to half an hour preparing for their day unpaid. During lunch breaks, the systems would time out, forcing workers to log in again. After hours, they were required to securely shut down each program. It all added up to significant lost time, the suit says.
At Martin’s pay rate of $46 per hour, that missing time could push her into overtime territory. For others in similar roles, the pattern may have lasted for years.
The Department of Labor has already issued guidance stating that tasks like loading computer systems count as part of the workday for hourly employees. Martin argues the bank either ignored that rule or knowingly avoided compliance.
A system bigger than one worker
Bank of America has not commented publicly, but the lawsuit suggests the issue could span hundreds, possibly thousands of employees who worked under the same strict scheduling rules. Many were hired through staffing agencies but followed the bank’s internal policies and timekeeping systems.
The class action seeks back pay for all affected employees, along with penalties and legal fees. If the case is certified, it could become one of the largest remote work wage disputes of the decade.
The lawsuit also hints at a broader shift in how companies handle the hidden labor of remote tech work. When employees spend a chunk of their day waiting for digital tools to load, is that still their time?
For now, the question heads to court. The outcome could change how corporations measure and pay for every click, login, and reboot in the digital workplace.